To steal a boy's heart
by Karmisael Brainpain
Summary: Naruto and Gaara is out on a stealingtour in the dark ages of France, taking everything of value and killing all witnesses. The duke Uchiha Sasuke fears that they will steal from him, but soon he realizes that a thief might just be what he needs...
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I would just like to say that I'm focusing mainly on the story, but there will be some sex! This is a yaoi fan-fic btw, but it will also contain a little yuri. Just so you know. Also, this is my first fan fiction! So be kind, but I would like to recive some constructive critisism too!

The wind roared through the empty corridors and hallways of the old, worn down French castle, owned by the duke, Uchiha Sasuke.

The only light outside of the big pile of rocks were the stars and the moon, barely visible due to the grey, gloomy smoke from the village. Normally, a house being burnt down in the village would be of great interest of the Uchiha family, but not any more.

With his family deceased by the plague, all blood relatives remaining were he himself, and his brother. Although, Sasuke wasn't too sure Itachi was still alive, since he had a tendency to mingle with the wrong circuits of people, all around the world.

He almost felt sad for his brother. Almost.

Sasuke tiredly turned his eyes away from one of his precious treasures, lying on the old wooden table in front of him, to look at another treasure of his: His wife, Sakura, walking down the stairs to the main hall, accompanied with her servant Ino. They were chatting silently with each other, but when they saw Sasuke's dark eyes look at them, they both went mute.

Sakura gave her servant a look, telling her they wanted to be alone. She nodded as an answer, and kept walking forward when they reached the foot of the stairs.

Sakura carefully and quietly approached Sasuke at the table in the middle of the hall, and then stood scarcely, not to say nervously, out of reach from him.

She was indeed afraid of him. For a year now they had been married, but he had never touched her. It was for both good and bad: He never hurt her, but he never made love to her either, and she had no idea what was on his mind, since he barely spoke with her, and to be honest, she was glad for that. There was such a tension between them, like the one between a rabbit and a wolf.

"What do you want?" he asked irritated, without even glancing at her. He was all eyes for his precious dagger on the table, which shone brightly in the light from all the lit candles surrounding it. You could understand why Sasuke thought it was so beautiful, since it had a divine air around it.

Sakura's tong suddenly got paralyzed, and she couldn't speak when she stood before him. All she could do was mumble, which got on Sasuke's nerves even more.

"Have you spotted anyone?" he asked in a way, that he hoped would make her understand how annoying she really were to him.

She took a deep breath, and when she wasn't about to say the things she originally planed to say, her tong was freed from the paralysis, and she didn't mumble anymore.

"No, we haven't" was all she said a bit disappointed.

Sasuke sighed, and turned his eyes slightly her way, still without looking at her.

"Then why did you come here, if there is nothing to report?" he said, with an increasing anger in his voice.

By now, Sakura's emotions got the overhand of her, and after months of oppression, she expressed herself. Still, she was fighting to keep her feelings down as much as she could.

"Sasuke, I'm sick of this!" She spoke with tears in her throat, which made her sound a bit pathetic in Sasuke's ears.

"I'm really sick of this! You came to my father, and asked for my hand over a year ago! I think... well, it's normal to worry about thieves when you have so much of value as you do, but... Don't you trust your guards? Their job is to make sure your treasures remain! And instead of keeping everyone in the castle awake day after day, can't you... I mean, can't _we_... On our wedding night, you didn't even..."

Suddenly, Sasuke pushed the chair he was sitting on down on the floor, and got on his feet with a serious expression.

"I do not wish to have this discussion" he said hastily with his eyes fixed on Sakura. She discovered that he had turned his eyes directly at her position, but her hopes of him finely being willing to see her was shattered when she realized he wasn't really looking at her. He was more or less looking straight through her. She felt the tears in her throat grow, and she struggled to keep them down. If there was something that would make Sasuke mad, it would be weakness, especially emotional weakness.

As Sasuke headed for the stairs, Sakura was stunned, and left unable to move or speak. But when the echo of his steps was heard, she collected all her remaining strength and yelled at him.

"Sasuke, don't you love me?!"

For a few seconds, the words bounced on the walls, and when they had faded out to nothing, there was nothing. Everything was quiet. The only thing to be heard in the silence was, after a short moment, Sasuke's steps. She had been speaking to deaf ears.

When Sasuke was out of sight, Sakura clenched her fists, and growled through her teeth.

"That son of a...!"

Before she got to finish the sentence, she was interrupted by a calm and superior sounding voice from behind.

"Oh my! What would the villagers say if they knew what you were calling your master? They would be very disappointed on you, Mrs Uchiha!"

She spun around fast, just to see the vicious grin of Sasuke's personal servant, who she hated almost as much as Sasuke himself.

"He is not my master!" she told him with poison in her voice. "He is my husband!"

Kabuto looked amused, and said with a soft laughter:

"Oh, and what a husband! A year after your marriage, and you are not expecting a heir for the Uchiha-family's goods? Let me ask you, has he even fulfilled his duties as your lawfully wedded husband even once? And don't you sleep in separated rooms?"

The look on his face revealed that he knew something that he wasn't telling her. But on the other hand, he always had that look on his face, and therefore she hated him as much as she did. Her hatred aside, what was really on her mind in that moment was what he was hiding from her. What was it he knew?

She quickly put the pieces together, and got an answer she wasn't too surprised with: Sasuke had other women. That was what Kabuto wasn't telling her, but she had figured it out by herself. That bastard!

She attempted to control herself, so she sat down on the chair Sasuke had pushed down earlier. As she was thinking of a way to get back at her cheating husband, she kept her wide open eyes on the cold and dirty floor. Kabuto stood silent as Sakura thought for herself.

"He had been cheating on me all along? How? And why? Am I not attractive?"

She then remembered Kabuto, still standing with his gaze upon her. She whispered through her teeth to the floor, with fake calm:

"Leave..."

"I don't even think he loves you at all! You are just a part of his collection..." Kabuto said without taking notice of her demand.

"I said leave!" she roared with a cracked voice. She was devastated.

Kabuto stood still for a short moment, chocked by her sudden change. He then bowed without a noise, and snuck away.

Sakura was left alone with the lit candles, who danced in the draft of the windows.

"So, he has other women?" she thought. "What was that saying? 'A tooth for a tooth, an eye for an eye?'"

She smiled to the thought of losing her virginity to somebody else then her husband, a stranger, and she couldn't wait until she got the chance to be alone with someone. She didn't think of the moral issues one bit, all that filled he mind for the moment was the memories of how the workers in the castle had looked at her ever since she moved in. It was piece a cake for her to find a willing man, but deciding who to pick of them was a different question. She came to the conclusion that it would be for the best if she just went with the first person who gave her a wanting look. It didn't matter who at all, she would just let herself go and do whatever fell in her mind.

She fantasized about the men in the castle, and pictured herself alone with the charming guard Kiba. She had thought of him many times before, ever since he protected her from a small group of bandits out in the forest surrounding Sasuke's goods. He was her hero.

She then remembered that when Sasuke enforced the castle's security, after receiving a warning about a criminal duo, he had putted Kiba on a patrol in the corridor outside her room around the clock, and by that she encountered him every morning.

"When I wake up in the morning, I shall immediately begin my hunt for a lover!" she thought, hoping her lover would be her brave hero: Kiba.

A small giggle almost blurted out of her, when she thought of the pleasure she would get from cheating on her husband. It would be so much more then just a sexual relief to her! Oh, how she longed to be touched...

Suddenly, Sakura was awaken from her fantasies when an alarm rang through out the building. Movement awoke from everywhere, and moments later the corridors and stairs was filled with guards and other workers. She could spot her servant's blond hair swaying in the air as she ran through the entrance hall.

The alarm came from the floor above, in the form of glass breaking and a man screaming.

Sakura quickly ran past a group of armed guards on their way up the stairs, and caught up with Ino. Both of them assumed the same thing as they ran panting past several wooden doors, heading for an open one further away, with guards gazing into the well lit room.

For more then a week now, Sasuke had kept everyone in his castle on their edges, since he had heard of a dangerous duo, who made their way into rich peoples houses, stole everything of value and then killed all witnesses with a grim brutality. It was Sasuke's greatest fear that even one of his treasures would go missing.

Ever since Kabuto had told Sasuke about the criminal duo, called the Petit Amies, the castle had been plagued by restlessness, since they were barely allowed to sleep, hunger, since they was told they didn't have to time eat too often, and boredom, since the duo could strike at any moment, and nobody was to keep their mind on anything but guarding the entrances. The atmosphere was getting more tense by the day, and someone would probably go crazy soon. God knows what would happen then.

The guards stood in a ring around the door, and Sakura and Ino tried to get a closer look into the room, but when Sasuke suddenly stepped out the doorway with rage in his face, and a small creature in his hand, they stumbled back, and tried to hide themselves behind some guards close to the wall.

Sasuke held the creature up high, and they could see that it was a damaged little bird who struggled to get out of his grip. Sasuke first looked at the bird, showed his teeth, then threw the critter straight into a brick wall opposite of the room.

Several of the guards tried to not react, but some of them wasn't prepared and jumped back a bit when the smash was heard. The light from the room beamed on the poor bird, who fell down on the stone floor with a soft noise, leaving a trace of blood on the wall. Sasuke glared at the bird a short moment, then at the guards, with a murderous rage in his eyes. With a damp clatter they all straightened their backs.

"Who screamed?!" he yelled at them.

"Who screamed?!" he asked again. "If the little yell belly doesn't tell me now, I'll make all the guards here suffer for his incompetence! Who screamed?!"

Sakura noticed that the man she was hiding behind was shaking, and when he then took a step forward, she was horrified of what would come next.

"I screamed. But not for the bird crashing the window, but for my dog, who was covered by the pieces of glass."

Sakura recognized the voice, and she also realized that only one man was brave enough to stand up against Sasuke that way. Her stomach turned as she thought of what would become of her brave hero, and she prayed that he would be okay.

The air was getting heavier by each breath they took, and Sakura felt how a pressure began growing over her chest as she held her breath in fear, awaiting Sasuke's move.

Kiba stood, as the other guars at the moment, with a straight back and eyes foreword, without looking at anything in particular. Sasuke, on the other hand, had his eyes strictly fixed on one point behind the uniformed young man in front of him. Sakura froze on the spot when Sasuke's eyes fell upon her, and by the looks of it, he didn't want her to be there. Ino had gotten the message too, and they hurried away to Sakura's chamber, the same way as they had come from.

As the two maidens rounded a corner in the corridor, they heard a whack behind them, and a bump of something hitting the floor. Sakura turned around and gasped when she heard the sound, but Ino grabbed her arm and made her keep walking.

"Don't worry about that guard. I'm sure he will be all right. You'll see" Ino said in an attempt to calm Sakura down as she dragged her in the arm, but the insecurity in Ino's voice only made her more worried. Sasuke couldn't be that cold! Or could he? Sakura knew him so badly...

As Ino was about to open the door to Sakura's chamber, a boy came running at them. He had a costume similar to Kabuto's butler-outfit, except that the boy's was less strict, more relaxed and much better to run in. His dark hair flew in the air as he slowed down, and stopped right next to the two girls.

"Shino? What is it?" Sakura asked the boy. He was both Sakura's and Sasuke's messenger-boy, and was assigned to running with errands to the town and handing orders to the guards. Sakura liked the boy, he was friendly, yet he didn't show many emotions. Still, he was devoted to his work with all his heart.

"A letter just arrived from earl Jiraya in Paris. He wishes to have dinner with the Uchiha-couple tomorrow. I'm sorry the letter got here so late, but Jiraya's messenger got lost on his way here. Please forgive him."

Sakura smiled at him, and was handed the letter. She didn't care to open it, but just gave it back to him.

"There is nothing to forgive him for. People do get lost sometimes" she said with a motherly voice. Shino bowed, and suddenly he was running again.

"Are you going to dinner tomorrow? You better pack quick! It takes a while to get to Paris."

"I'm not going" Sakura replied.

Ino stood surprised, waiting for an explanation.

"As you said, it do take a while to get to Paris, and would you like to spend that trip together with my husband?"

Ino understood completely. The silence would driver her mad.

They wished each other a good night, and Sakura closed the door behind her. When she fell down on her bed, the incident from earlier came to mind. She embraced a big pillow, trying to find comfort from the tears she was shedding.

"Kiba..." she cried quietly to herself.


	2. Chapter 2

It was quite silent in the wagon, except for the bumps heard when the wheels drove over rocks and holes in the ground. Both Sasuke and Kabuto had grown tired of the scenery of green forests and yellow fields with corn, and their butts were aching from the two day ride on dirt road. They had stopped talking about business a long time ago, and Sasuke feared that they soon would talk about personal questions. He simply hated having to talk about such things. But when Kabuto asked him about his brother, he just couldn't ignore his friend, who had been faithful for several years to him.

"You mentioned someone you called 'brother' once. Is it true that you do have living relatives?" Kabuto asked. Sasuke got surprised by the sudden question, but he answered it calmly, yet in a way that made clear he wanted to get over with it.

"Yes. I had a brother once. But he betrayed the family when the plague struck our home. He is most surly dead now."

Kabuto smeared, and changed his position on the seat by putting his ankle on his knee.

"Betrayed you said?" He wore the same smile now that he had while talking to Sakura the last night. The smile of knowing something the others did not. "How did he betray you?"

Sasuke didn't want to look at his friend at the moment, so he kept his gaze out the window. The question brought up memories he would like to forget.

"You might be familiar with the name Uchiha from before you started working for me, since it was known far and wide a couple of years ago. We were rich and had great political power. But one day my cousin, Obito, had been playing with his friends in the village. That stupid boy… He actually believed in all those tales and lectures about treating everyone as equals! His friends were poor, and they had rats living in their shack of a house. Obito returned to our castle coughing, and soon more and more of us were sick too. After a few days, me and my brother were the only ones who could stand on our own. All the others had boils all over their bodies, they coughed constantly and... When our parents finely died, my brother fled. I was left alone to take care of their bodies, and through some miracle I didn't get the disease. But I still had to take care of myself, and right after I had buried my dead relatives in the woods behind our castle, I realized that almost all of our gold and money were gone. My brother had taken it all when he fled."

Kabuto sat quiet for a while after he had heard the story, and his smile quickly perished. He knew that the Uchiha nearly got wiped out because of the plague, but he had never heard the details. That Sasuke had to burry his own family... Kabuto couldn't even understand how it would feel like.

"I'm sorry for bringing the subject up. I didn't mean too."

"It's okay..." he answered dreamy. He was relieved that he got that part of his history out of the way between him and his butler, but he had preferred if it had never come up. He tried to relax for a bit, but the air had gone heavy and it felt bad to breathe. He snuck a peek at Kabuto, but he didn't seem to be bothered by the air at all. Maybe it wasn't the air… Maybe it was an omen that something bad was going to happen.

'Le Petit Amies!' he thought. 'They are most surly going to strike tonight!' Sasuke suddenly became nervous, and it felt as if the seat began to burn underneath him. He just couldn't sit still where he was. His treasures would probably be gone when he returned to the castle, and all the work he had done to make the Uchiha great once again would be for nothing! The year had fifty-two weekends, and he had hoped that they wouldn't decide to pick this one. If so only one of his precious items would be gone, he didn't know what he would do when he got back…

Kabuto still seemed to be totally unaware of Sasuke's condition. He looked at the swaying green fields they were passing by with a look in his eyes that Sasuke couldn't place. Was it treason that was on his mind? The possibility was small, but it still existed. Maybe his faithful friend would finely turn his back on him, just to steal everything he had?

As Sasuke leaned slightly foreword to get a closer inspection on the possible traitor, Kabuto suddenly snapped out of his dreamy state and turned his gaze upon Sasuke.

A moment of silence, followed by a sudden lounge. Sasuke dragged his feet up on the seat to protect himself, when Kabuto flew across the floor of the wagon and landed on him. Sasuke didn't have time to react, and froze when he saw Kabuto's fist accelerating towards his head. A loud crash sounded through the small space when his hand hit. Sasuke sat silent, chocked and confused by the sudden and violent event. He waited for the pain to be felt anywhere on his body, but it never came.

The wagon slowed in, Kabuto got down from Sasuke's lap and sat down on his seat again. He raised his hand to show its content: A crushed wasp.

"How are you, my liege? Did you get hurt?" he said while he picked the bug from his hand and threw it out the window.

Sasuke couldn't do anything more then nod, still under a state of chock.

"Are you gentlemen alright down there?" the driver shouted from the roof.

"Just a wasp. You can keep them horse going" Kabuto called back without a trace of feeling troubled.

Sasuke swallowed hard and put his hand on his chest. His heart was throbbing, and he had been holding his breath since the moment Kabuto stopped looking out the window.

'Silly me!' he thought. 'How could I ever suspect my best friend of something as horrible as treason? Maybe I'm getting paranoid...'

He returned to his original position, but the long dull day had been taking its toll on him, and he's eyes struggled to get shut, even if he wished to stay awake. Before he knew it, he was laying on the leather-seat with a peaceful face on him.

Kabuto glanced at him with bored eyes. The wait was tormenting him, and he didn't know how much longer he would last. All he could think of was Jiraya's castle, and what awaited them there...

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Sakura walked around the corridors with a heavy heart in her chest and her long, wine-red Victorian dress dragging up dirt from the floor. Kiba had not been seen since last night, and another guard had been assigned to his patrol-route. She feared the worse, but hoped for the best in the situation. Even so, it looked dark for her heroic dream-man.

Further ahead she heard a group of men talking wildly, and she could tell that they were plotting to do bad deeds. They tried to keep their voices low, but the hard walls amplified their chatter, and Sakura could almost hear what was said from far away. She pushed herself up against the wall, and crept closer to them. She stopped where the light from their torches didn't reach and she remained in the shadows. Did they say anything about Kiba? She could just barely see them from around the corner she stood behind, but it was enough to recognise most of them. They were all Sasuke's guards, with their navy-blue uniforms on and swords in their belts. The steel reflected the warm light from the torches, and spread it all over the corridor.

"… since he is gone. And neither will his curious four-eyed butler! Who knows how many more chances we will get?" said a rather fat one, with excitement in his voice.

"Yeah!" a sleazy guard continued. "And he doesn't really care about those bottles! All he ever looks at is them items of gold, with sparkly gems attached everywhere!"

The guards went quiet for a moment. The two guards that had spoken were trying to convince something to a third person, but she couldn't see whom or figure out what they were talking about. She leaned more to the side to get a better look, but luck was against her. The fat guard had his eyes her way, and saw her long, bright-pink hair in the dark shades. He alarmed the others, and they got ready to make a run for it. She understood what they were thinking, that they better get away before she could identify them all, so she revealed herself and called all their names. If she knew who they were, what good would running be?

"Chouza! Amachi! Ki…!" she stopped before she could finish the last name. Her heart went heavy and a rush of disappointment went through her body when she saw his face, not too many yards away from her. He was walking with crutches, and had a big bandage over his left arm. Whatever they were plotting, she wasn't glad to see that Kiba was in on it.

"Kiba…" she cried quietly. The guards all stopped and starred at her, waiting for her to continue. Sakura then quickly changed her attitude.

"What were you talking about? I can have you executed if you plan to turn your backs against the Uchiha!" she said, trying to sound superior, though she felt as if they could kill her with a mare thought.

Kiba turned towards her. Sakura quickly looked down on the floor in embarrassment and guilt, since she could not help but to feel a little responsible for his condition. Slowly her gaze wandered up Kiba's legs, past the crutches and his broken arm, and she finely met his eyes. She struggled not to look away, since she felt bad just thinking about what she had done. It was her fault for making Sasuke so mad the last night. She just wanted to kill herself…

Kiba took a deep breath and pushed his chest out, so he would look more serious when he spoke.

"We were thinking about making our way into the wine-cellar, and have a small private party. There are rumours about Sasuke keeping well over hundreds of bottles down there, and we thought he wouldn't notice if a dozen of them were gone. As the captain of this group, I take full responsibility for our thoughts, and I'm ready to receive punishment" he said formally and got down on his knee with a down-bent head, just to show respect. Sakura got surprised by his actions. Barely anyone treated her that way!

Amachi and Chouza tried to make them selves look small, and kept quiet as they leaned towards the walls. Sakura glared at them. How could they just let some younger person take the responsibility of their group, without even attempting to care? She began to hate the guards too.

She looked back at Kiba, and realized he would do anything she would tell him to do now. He was under her control. But what could she do to make him grant her the wishes she had? She smiled as she just came up with an idea.

"If you were planning to drink from our wine-cellar, then you must… also take me with you."

Kiba got confused. It was not the order he was waiting for, but he could not complain. It was just to follow orders.

"As you wish…- Amachi, Chouza! Let's get going!"

Chouza and Amachi laughed of relive, and ran up to join Kiba and Sakura on their way down the stairs to the cellar.

Sakura had just been there once before, but nothing had changed since. Webs were hanging from the roof, a thick layer of dust made the etiquettes on the bottles hard to read and the shelves were as old as before.

Amachi and Chouza hurried to a big old shelf in a corner, and pulled out a pair of bottles with red, purple and clear content. They didn't care to read the year on them, they were just glad they could get such fine wine.

"Kiba! Got a cork-screw?" Amachi asked with a grin.

As soon as a cork-screw was found, the liquor flowed into their glasses, and it didn't take long until Sakura felt dizzy. She tried to glance at Kiba without him noticing, but her state made her slow. He looked her into her eyes, gave her a big smile and leaned closer to her… Her heart was pounding, and it felt as if it could do back-flips as he wrapped her arms around her. His warmth made her feel so safe, so secure and so sleepy… The moment his hands touched her, she felt as if she were flying, and she wished for the moment to last just a second longer. She buried her face in his chest and felt his scent. He smelled a lot like sweat, but somehow she found it even more intoxicating then the wine she just had. She was safe in his arms, and she would let him do anything with her.

He carefully and slowly walked up the stairs with her in his embrace, and it reminded her of being on the sea. Kiba was her boat, swaying up and down in the waves, and if she fell out of his arms she would drown in the water. She pressed her head harder against his muscular chest, and listened to his heart beat. It was so relaxing...

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Sakura woke up with a mild headache and a bitter taste in her mouth. At least she still had that warm fuzzy feeling in her that she got after her first bottle of wine.

She realized quickly enough that she was not in her room, or the cellar, and Kiba was not around. Obviously, her plan to get Kiba drunk and take him to her room failed and she was the one who got drunk instead. She was so embarrassed.

She looked around, and her eyes caught a blond pony-tail in the other end of the room. Sakura tried to get up, but right as her dress slid off the cover of the bed with a small sound, Ino quickly turned around, holding a pearl-white dress in her hands.

"Oh… Did I scare you Ino?"

Ino hurried to find a place to hide the dress she was holding, but it was no use. Sakura had already seen it.

"No, I was just… sewing" Ino explained.

Sakura stumbled halfway across the room to get a better look at what Ino was holding, and she asked what it was.

"It's… well, I made it as a present to you actually. It's not done yet, but I'll try to finish it as quickly as possible!"

Sakura walked on insecure feet the last half of the room, so she could get a really good look on the dress. She inspected the form of it, felt the fabric and tried to image herself in it. It was the most beautiful dress she had ever seen!

"C-can I try it on?" she whispered.

Ino widened her eyes in surprise, and shot her a great smile as an answer. Sakura was handed the dress, quickly got into a dressing-booth and threw the clothes she wore on the floor. After a short minute she stepped out, with the most beautiful white dress ever seen in the castle. It was made from several smaller pieces of silk, all carefully put together to form a pattern all around the body. Ino was stunned by Sakura's beauty, and couldn't say anything at all. When Sakura looked at her with a questioning and curious smile, Ino just shrieked and gave her a big hug.

"I didn't know you would look this beautiful in it. You look absolutely gorgeous!"

Sakura giggled of gratitude, and spun around a few laps as she got closer to the window-board. She faced Ino directly while she got her arms wrapped around herself, and said:

"It's so… wonderful I don't know what to say!"

She came to think about the saying she thought of the last night, after she had tried to speak with Sasuke. 'A tooth for a tooth, an eye for an eye,' and she decided that she would live more after it. As a rule almost!

"Ino… I want us to treat one and other the same way. Always! If you great me, I'll great you. If I hit you, you'll hit me. If you give me a dress like this one, I'll give you one too! Do you understand?"

Sakura bended over the window-board to gaze upon the view, and while she enjoyed the green landscape, she didn't notice Ino giggling behind her back.

"I want us to be as equals. Whenever you do something to me, I'll do it to you. And when I do something to you, I expect you to do it to me too!" she said, still unaware of the laughing behind her back. Ino just merely managed to talk, with her eyes on Sakura.

"So… You want me… to show… my butt to you?"

Ino couldn't hold herself anymore. She held her sides hard and laughed as an idiot. First then did Sakura turn around to look at her friend, who could barely stand on her feet.

"What? What is so funny?" she asked confused. But now when she had her back against the window, she felt a breeze on her behind. She finely understood.

Ino kept laughing, and it didn't seem to have an end. Sakura was not pleased with being the laughing-stock, and figured out a way to make her stop, and maybe get even.

"Yes, I do" she said seriously. Ino's laughter quickly faded away, and suddenly she went absolutely quiet. Her lower lip was shaking a bit, and her eyes were blanc as lakes. She thought for a minute, and since she was Sakura's subordinate, she could do nothing but to follow orders.

Slowly she bent down to the floor, grabbing the end of her dress. She straightened her back without a sound, and the air suddenly got really tense in the room. She pulled her arms higher up, revealing her legs, thighs, white Victorian underpants… She kept the dress up with her elbows while she untied the undergarments and let it fall to the floor. She then turned around, so Sakura could see what she wanted to see.

Sakura had a straight face as she walked closer to Ino. When she was just about two steps away from her, Sakura suddenly began laughing, just as Ino had done earlier. Ino was now the confused one, but she soon got the hang of it and joined the fun. She let her dress fall down, but her underpants remained at her feet.

She gave Sakura a small friendly push on the arm as they laughed. Sakura responded the push, and pushed back, causing Ino to tangle her legs in her underpants and fall to the floor. There she rolled around, still laughing as her dress had flown up on her belly again. Sakura then heard footsteps in the corridor outside and tried to tell Ino to pull her dress down and her underpants up, but she was laughing too much to move. Sakura fell down on her knees to do it for her, but her arms folded underneath her causing her to fall down on the floor too, so she was lying next to Ino. As the footsteps got closer to them, Sakura managed to get a hold on herself, and put one hand over Ino's mouth and the other one somewhere on the floor for support.

The heavy steps moved past the wall with a rustling of armour, telling them it was a guard. He moved past the door, coughed, and then slowly faded away as he kept walking. The two girls looked at the door as the guard passed it with fear, but also with excitement.

When the steps had disappeared completely they looked each other in the eyes. Ino looked first in Sakura's innocent eyes, then down to where her other hand was. Sakura looked too, but didn't see it since it was hidden behind Ino's leg.

Sakura's heart started beating again. Not like when Kiba carried her in his arms, this beating was harder, and she felt even more intoxicated. A sudden impulse came over her.

She rolled over, and stood on her knees and arms over Ino with eyes connected.

"You must trust me, I have my reasons for doing this!" she whispered as she slowly lowered herself closer to Ino's body. She could feel Ino's breath blowing at her open mouth as she stretched her lips out and closed her eyes. Ino laid still as her lips was pressed against Sakura's, and her tongue was seeking its way in.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: I have tried a little harder with this chapter. The last one... well, I am aware of the yuri-scene and all it's not-very-goodness, but that chapter was a bit forced. I didn't really want to write that one, but I needed Sakura to be with Ino. You'll see in the end why... Meanwhile, please enjoy this new chapter. And feel free to give me constructive criticism, so I might become better in the future!

The winds were gathering, the rain froze into harsh snow and the sun was not to be seen at all on the mellow sky. It was a safe sign that winter would come early this year, and that Sasuke and his fellow butler were closing in to the earl's castle. They had already seen glimpses of the dark towers in the distance as they had rolled up on a high hill. The view was not pretty. It was a barren and desolate landscape they had come to, and Sasuke started to wonder why an earl would have a castle in such a place. When he read 'Paris' in the invitation he had imagined something more like the Versailles in all it's glory. As the castle got more and more into view between the forests of dead trees, Sasuke got less and less impressed by what he saw.

The walls were covered in dark-green ranks and various wild plants, some of the windows were smashed or completely missing, there was no grass surrounding the building but only mud and overall the place had not seemed alive for decades. Sasuke started to doubt that Jiraya was such a great business companion. At least the road had been entertained for the last two or three years.

Kabuto and Sasuke both thought the same thing as the wagon was pulled into the gates by the two horses: They must have come to the wrong place. They had both heard of a new gang of bandits roaming the country, claiming castles and mansions as their own just to let them collapse in time. There was a possibility that they had

attacked Jiraya, heard of Sasuke's coming and now were waiting for him in an ambush.

Kabuto looked through a small window near the roof of the wagon, in which he could see the driver. The gray-haired man had half his face covered, but Kabuto could see he was as gloomy as ever and showed no trace of anxiety. And the driver had been there before, so he couldn't have taken the wrong way anywhere.

Letting his gaze wander from tip to toe on Sasuke, Kabuto came to the conclusion that Sasuke wasn't worried a bit either. He himself, on the other hand, was just waiting to hear a battle-cry from a group of men armed with swords or a searing arrow flying into the wall. He started cracking his finger in the agony of being so exposed to all the windows on the inner yard. Sasuke wasn't the only one who had an appointment in there, but Kabuto's meeting wasn't a matter of business.

The carriage suddenly stopped on the yard. They jiggled on the spot for a short moment, and then all went quiet. The horses stomped their hooves out in the cold. Sasuke kept his mask as the silence got tenser, and all happening was the night closing in upon them, covering them in the darkness and shades.

Kabuto wanted to ask his lord if they should arm themselves in some way, but Sasuke hushed him with a finger and pressed his ear against the wall. As Kabuto sharpened his hearing he could hear careful steps out on the dust-field. His heartbeat got faster and his mouth went dry.

As the person stopped outside, Sasuke violently kicked his door open. He was surprised by what he saw. It was a blue-haired girl with the clothes of a maid. As her blank eyes fell on Sasuke's grinning face, she shrieked and stumbled around to thump down by the tire of the wagon. Kabuto jumped out as quickly as possible to help her up, but three other persons were already moving with a quick pace through the biting wind to do so. Sasuke identified them through their clothes as Jiraya's service-people. The girl who he had scared was a maid, and the man who now had arrived with the two women was most surly his butler. The women, he thought, must serve some other kind of service for the earl. Their beauty told him that what they did only took place behind locked doors at night.

Prostitutes, how he lowed them. The fact that they greeted him with both hugs and kisses didn't change his opinion. He hated them. They introduced themselves as Okyou and Emi; both had black hair and a chest-size over average. But he didn't care to remember who was who; he wanted to stay away from them and just answered their greetings with a short "Enchanté".

The man had helped the maid up on her feet, and where now helping her to dust her back rid of the snow. He patted her on the shoulder in a fatherly gesture and walked over to Sasuke.

"Welcome to earl Jiraya's humble home. I am Iruka, the butler, and I will guide you to the dining-hall" he said and grabbed Sasuke by the hand, showing a smile that stretched from one ear to another. Iruka was chocked by the coldness of Sasuke's fingers, but he thought that it must have been cold in the carriage. He then gave the new-arrivals a wet kiss on each cheek and they introduced themselves as well. After Sasuke had said his full name he just starred at the man's stupid smile. If Iruka had asked if he wanted to punch him in the face Sasuke wouldn't have hesitated.

Kabuto's body was shivering in the cold. He believed he would freeze to death if he didn't come in soon. When Iruka finely begged them to come into the castle-building Kabuto actually got a little angry.

'Couldn't he have waited with the introductions till we had gotten inside?' he thought with his arms wrapped around himself, still shaking as the main gate opened with a loud noise. He wished he had taken his long, warm cloak with him.

A wall of warmth rolled over the party as they took their first steps on a red rug covering the stone floor. Sasuke had been in many rich people's homes before and wasn't amazed, but Kabuto got big eyes when he saw the portraits, the statues on pedestals and armors hanging on the walls. Despite the outside it was a bit fancier then their own home, they had to admit. Sasuke was just curious of why the outside looked as jagged as it did.

Iruka told them to follow, and after passing through a few halls with valuable paintings made by recognized artists they got into the great hall. Almost directly to their left was a big table, filled with steaming hot food and lit candles. Both Kabuto's and Sasuke's eyes first fell over a chubby and white-haired man sitting in the middle of the long side of the table furthest away from them, happily eating from his plate. They both immediately knew that it was their host Jiraya. Ever since Sasuke's grandfather had his family been working together with the earl Jiraya in buying and selling different kinds of goods they managed to get their hands on. They discussed with each other about the deals and how profitable it would be. They had worked in that way for many, many years, and it still paid off. It had become like a tradition for the Uchiha-family, and Sasuke had kept the tradition alive ever since his parents died.

Kabuto let his gaze sweep over the many dishes set up with a faint smile on his lips and a hunger in both his eyes and belly, but Sasuke's eyes were locked on a target next to their host. Kabuto was smiling as Jiraya told them all to take a seat and so they did, except for Sasuke who didn't move from the spot he stood on. Kabuto gave him a questioning look, but Sasuke didn't notice and kept looking on the occupied seat on the right of Jiraya with intensifying hatred. Someone sat there. Someone with long black hair, tired eyes, an air of might and power and the same pale skin as Sasuke himself. There was no mistaking it. It was indeed Sasuke's bigger brother, Itachi. When their eyes met Sasuke was suddenly taken back in time to the days he was nothing but a mere kid with no control over his emotions and actions. From the innocent child he then transformed into a fierce animal with a hunger to kill. He wanted to tear Itachi into small pieces, bit by bit, until only his head remained on the floor before him. He would then stomp it beyond recognition and spit on it. But the animal inside him told him that there was some things he had to do to get there. He needed to take his brother down first, render him defenseless, then he could make his inner wished real.

"What in God's name is that… that slithering snake doing here?!" he roared as the animal he had become. But Itachi didn't react. He kept his focus on his dinner, which enraged Sasuke even more. Before anyone understood what had happened, Sasuke had grabbed a knife stuck in a turkey and hurried towards his brother with it high over hi head. Adrenalin was pumping through his muscles, his heart was beating faster by the second and his eyes were turning red in madness. He had dreamed of killing Itachi for such a long time that he thought he would never get to do it. The second he saw his brother the images of his dead relatives came back to him from deep inside of his unconsciousness to torment him once again. Ever since it happened Sasuke had been trying to suppress the memories of those months. In the blink of an eye a sequence flashed before his eyes...

Flashback

He was in the dark forest by their castle, and even though there was a lot of people around him he was alone in ever way. The ones around him was his family, the only people who had cared about him. He was still alone, since they were all dead. They were laying in piles that Sasuke had formed, and his hands were dirty and aching from digging a hole big enough to carry all the corpses.

He had rolled them down as carefully as possible, but the hole wasn't big enough. One body to bury. His mother's dead eyes looked on him from the grass as he began digging a new hole with tears flowing down his cheeks. He wanted to kiss, or at least hug his mother once more before he threw her down into the pit. But he knew he would get the plague if he did thus facing the same destiny.

He dragged her in the arms to the deep, dark hole and dropped her down. Thump. Tears was still flowing freely on his face as he picked up the shovel and began to fill the grave. It was dark, the sun had set several hours ago, but he could still see his mothers terrified and pale face in the moonlight. His body began to shake and his knees felt weaker. He couldn't stand it anymore, and collapsed on the cold and wet ground. He cried and called his mothers name. She was just a few feet away from him, but he knew it wasn't his mother anymore. It was nothing but a body that would be eaten by the wolves if it wasn't properly buried. Still shaking, he got up and kept on shoveling down the dirt, covering his mother's face...

End of flashback

He blamed his brother for it all. If he just had someone there to support him and who shared the pain with him he would probably not be so cold-hearted. He also suffered when he treated people like dirt, but he couldn't do anything about it. But now the reason for all the pain and suffering sat there, not twelve feet away from him, eating it's dinner. If his mind had been clear enough to think he would probably be smiling right now when he had got the chance to claim revenge. Such sweet sensation to finely fulfill his wishes!

But before Sasuke had reached his brother, Jiraya had gotten to his feet to stand in their way. Itachi had jumped up as well, but he stood in a casual and relaxed way. Sasuke took it as an insult, and tried to push Jiraya away, but he was too big and it showed no result. Jiraya grabbed him by the arms and forced him down in the chair next to him and took the knife away.

"Please Sasuke! You are behaving like a lunatic! What has gotten into you?"

His mind was slowly getting clearer, but he still wanted to kill his brother. Jiraya realized that, and grabbed his neck with his left arm and pressed him into the chair so he could not get out, in a way reminding of keeping a dog down to tell him it has done something bad. Sasuke wondered about just how much Jiraya knew of Itachi's past. Of the things he had done. How he had gotten hold on his money. How he had abandoned his brother!

Itachi got back to his seat and continued eating as if nothing had happened.

"You have to listen to your brother, Sasuke!"

"Why should I listen to him?" he yelled in return. "He robbed my family and left me to bury my own parents! He must die, or it will be a disgrace to my family-name!"

Itachi glanced at him with his head bent down over a piece of meat.

"We carry the same family-name, little brother. Killing me won't make a difference" he said as if they were discussing the weather. "Besides, I need your help right now."

Sasuke was still struggling to get out of Jiraya's grip, but when he heard the last part of what his brother said he got a bit calmer. His mind got even clearer, and he realized that if his brother needed his help he could make him pay dearly for it. Maybe this was for his advantage?

"Tell him Itachi."

Finely Itachi straightened up a little and faced his brother directly over the table and plates. He didn't seem to be scared or bracing for anything, which made Sasuke curious of what it was he needed help with.

"I need your help, as said. I am currently under a death-threat by a powerful band of bandits, and they have ceased my castle in the north. I need somewhere to stay until they think I am gone or they all have died, either one that goes first. Meanwhile… may I stay in your castle, baby-brother?"

Sasuke was almost amused by the request. For his own brother, who had taught and trained him when they were nothing but kids, to ask such a question after what he had done. It was cheer stupidity! If it was something

Itachi had taught him it was to never forget or forgive.

"First of all" Sasuke replied, "do not call me 'brother'. Second, do you know what it will cost you to stay at my castle? Do you have any idea?" he asked, almost laughing at the end. But the smile that was about to grow from his face perished when Jiraya took word.

"It won't cost Itachi anything at all to stay in your home" he said. "But it will cost you everything you own if you refuse him to enter. If you do not take him in, and protect him from the bandits, I will stop all deals going on between the two of us!"

Sasuke got stunned. What he thought would bring him revenge on his brother instead turned around and bit him in the hand. Was he forced to take care of Itachi? For how long? And what was the connection between Jiraya and Itachi that made Jiraya take Itachi's party?

In pure anger Sasuke grabbed a fork lying in front of him on the table and jammed it into Jiraya's arm holding him down. Jiraya immediately let go of Sasuke's neck and held the wound with his other hand while screaming of pain. His blood sprayed up on the table and over the food, but it was not any greater amount that he lost. The blue-haired girl, who sat on the short end of the table next to Itachi, hurried to tie her napkin around her master's arm. The white cloth instantly became dark-red.

"Shall I go get a doctor monsieur?" Itachi asked with his calm voice.

"No, it's just a small wound. It will heal in a matter of days."

Itachi glared angrily at his brother. Sasuke hadn't seen his brother that mad before, but for him it didn't matter. Trying to improve their relationship would just be a waste of time, since he would try to kill his brother soon anyway; he just needed a way to take his life without a possibility to be tied to it. Jiraya was not to know about it, or Sasuke's fortunes would disappear. He already knew that killing his brother would be a difficult task.

Jiraya coughed loudly and sat down heavily in his stuffed chair that creaked softly when he did.

"Let… let us try to forget old quarrels, okay? You two are brothers after all, and should behave more like it!

Now I want us all to sit down and talk like adults. Can you do that?" Jiraya asked as he looked at the two brothers. Mostly on Sasuke of course.

Itachi answered quietly and politely to his host, but Sasuke took a second before he said yes. He decided it would be for the best not to make them suspect him hating them, so he kept a friendly face. But in his eyes he now had two great enemies in this world, and they were both close to him: His own brother and his business companion. He was glad that his butler stayed at his side at least. Without him he would be lost.

The talk started, slow at first, but after going through a couple of topics everybody were talking. They talked about how poorly maintained the outside of Jiraya's castle were, and he told the guests that it was to fool burglars and bandits passing by to believe he was very poor and not worth robbing. Quickly the topic changed, thanks to Kabuto, and suddenly they were discussing Le Petite Amies, and how Sasuke had been keeping his guards at bay because of them. Jiraya, Itachi and Iruka all laughed at Sasuke. He didn't really understand why, but Iruka explained it too him.

"Just a week ago the sheriff captured Le Petit Amies, and they were executed three days ago in the city. Their heads are still on display on the market square if you wish to see them?" he said.

"No thanks" Sasuke replied. "I believe your word."

So this meeting had brought something good to Sasuke after all! He now had to take care of his hated brother, but one of his problems was now out of the way, and soon his brother would be too. He had already come up with a plan on how to take Itachi's life without being blamed for it. They just had to get back home. It had been prepared before he even left the castle.

"I hope you can take care of your brother better then you get your hands on news, Sasuke!" Jiraya said in a joking manor. "Or else you won't know of the bandits coming before they are knocking on your door!"

Everyone around the table chuckled to Jiraya's joke, but Itachi seemed to be the one who enjoyed it the most; He even spilled his wine over his clothes as he laughed.

"Mon dieu, Itachi!" Jiraya shouted when he heard the wine-glass clang against the floor. "You must clean that up post haste or your clothes will be ruined!"

"It's nothing to worry about" he said in reply. "Now when I am under my brother's custody I believe I have the right to borrow his butler?"

They both looked on Sasuke smiling, or what looked like a smile coming from Itachi. Sasuke had his mouth full of food for the moment, and just waved his hand to tell them to go. Itachi and Kabuto pushed their chairs away and hurried up the big stairs in a hall they had passed when Kabuto and Sasuke first arrived, with their steps echoing through out the halls after they were out of sight. Jiraya looked after them holding his own wine-glass high in his hand.

"What a shame to ruin such a nice dinner-costume. Really…"

The evening passed without anything of importance happening. Sasuke and Jiraya discussed about whether to buy or not to buy a ship-load of merchandise from across the sea that they could then sell for a small profit, but nothing got settled. Sasuke tried to exchange a few words with the blue-haired girl he had scared before. He apologised for the incident earlier, but she didn't seem to be too bothered by what happened. She then hurried out to the kitchen and wasn't seen for the rest of the night.

Around midnight Sasuke started to feel tired, and wished to go to bed. As he stretched himself he realized that Kabuto hadn't returned with his brother yet. If Itachi still was the same as when he was little, he was probably trying to persuade Kabuto into working for him instead of Sasuke since he had a small fixation in getting more people under him, and thus more power. Sasuke didn't worry about it, since he knew Kabuto was loyal to him and would never leave him. He wished Jiraya a good night. Just for show of course, he still hated him and wished to see him dead.

Jiraya gave Sasuke instructions on how to find his room on the floor above, and he was not late to follow them.

It was a bit cold and windy in the corridor on the second floor, as expected when the windows are missing. Despite the many doors everywhere that all looked alike, Sasuke managed to find the one assigned to him. Kabuto and Itachi had the rooms next to his, and he thought that it was nothing wrong with it. But as he passed Itachi's door, he suddenly stopped. It could have been his imagination, but he swore he heard a noise from the other side of the door.

He pressed his ear to the wood to get it confirmed: Itachi was in there with Kabuto. Was Itachi really trying to convince Kabuto to join him?

'That bastard!' he thought. He then tried to see them by looking into the key-hole. He regretted that he did. It would even have been better if Itachi really had been trying to steal Kabuto away from him. Anything would have been better. Anything but this!

The inside of the room was covered in clothes thrown everywhere. On a chair, on the floor, on the desk… And on the bed they were. Sasuke looked on the two with a strange feeling in his heart. He first thought it was the feeling of being betrayed, but he soon realized it wasn't. He was just very curious. Curious, and exited. He watched as Kabuto bounced up and down on Itachi, who laid flat on his back enjoying the pleasure. Kabuto moaned softly and Itachi smirked with his teeth cleansed. Then they both stopped moving. Kabuto got his head down onto Itachi's chest, smiling as if he was in heaven and Itachi stroked his blond hair smiling back. Itachi giggled when Kabuto teased him by licking and carefully biting him on his nipples, which was something new for Sasuke who had never even seen Itachi make a real smile.

"I have missed this so much" Kabuto whispered dreamy and rubbed his head on Itachi's chest like a kitten. Itachi bent his head down and kissed Kabuto softly on his lips, making a wet sound.

"I have too" Itachi said not as dreamy, but still happily. "We are lucky that my brother doesn't know about us. He would kill you."

"Maybe we should tell him one day? It's not good to keep secrets of this kind. If this came out the wrong way, God knows what might happen! There is a possibility that he might really kill me."

Itachi sighed and gave Kabuto a kiss on his head as he stroked him softly. Kabuto pulled himself up a little on Itachi's body so they could embrace each other better.

"He will probably not find out. And if he does, we will just kill him before he kills us."

"But I don't want him to die! He is my master!" Kabuto protested. He didn't want to think of having to kill Sasuke, he really liked him. As a master. He nudged Itachi's chin with his mouth and licked him passionately.

"We'll see what happens… Maybe he won't give us any other choice" Itachi said, and apparently went to sleep. Kabuto dragged the cover over their bodies and went to sleep too.

Sasuke was trembling in anger. This was not betrayal. This was far beyond betrayal! He would certainly kill Itachi now.

In his raging anger Sasuke smashed a vase standing on a pedestal nearby. He shouldn't have done that, he realized when he heard footsteps coming towards the door. We tried to run to his room, but he wasn't fast enough and only got two or three steps when the door to Itachi's room opened.

Wrapped in a sheet and holding his glasses in one hand Kabuto starred at Sasuke. He slowly put his glasses back on, and they both looked on each other for what felt like an eternity.


End file.
